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1 The Objective Subjectivity of  Faith Joshua Duffy December 2012 1. Introduction  If an atheist were so inclined as to begin an argument with a theist, I could think of no  better subject to start with than „faith. To the atheist, such a concept is sheer foolishness, but to the theist, it is nothing less than divine. This is quite a gulf, and at first glance it is hard to imagine that one could ever attempt to bridge such a gap. This essay is not particularly an endeavour to do so. Attempting to rationalize „faithto an unbeliever is akin to trying to rationalize to a patient with Alzhe imers disease that it is 3:30a.m. and they would do well to go to bed or else they will be exhausted in the morning and possibly sleep through breakfast, which is something I have actually rationalized to patients on occasion, much to my chagrin. Point being, the latter does not have the capacity upon which to accept the conclusion. It just does not make any sense to them, which, given the circumstances, is completely understandable.  What is hoped to be accomplished in this essay is to determine if there is any basis for having faith, and if that basis is enough to validate faith as an objective reason for believing. The question can be succinctly put: Is having faith rational or irrational? This is the question we hope to answer.  In my experience, when most people (be it Christians in the pews, or secularists in the street) hear the term „faith, immediately the notion of „blind faitharises, which basically argues

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